America invented the three-digit credit score. Now companies in China are taking the idea to the extreme, using big data to track and rank what you do—your purchases, your pastimes, your mistakes.PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAN WINTERS; ILLUSTRATIONS BY JAMES GRAHAM

The interesting element in this story is that it has taken more than a year for Dixons to admit to this breach. Is there evidence that Dixons sought to protect the customers involved by contacting them immediately?

My concern is that only a partial breach of data nevertheless add to the richness of the data accumulating on individual people which is gathering in the wrong hands.

The lastest episode from our podcast ‘Offcuts’ is now available. https://audioboom.com/…/6873234-episode-4-extended-special-… This final episode in the season focuses solely on the phenomenon of RuPaul’s Drag Race – beginning with a fan-scholar discussion with undergraduates (starts 1 min 45s): Jinx Jae-Hood, Patrick Kane and Gerardo Nieves; and ends with an extended discussion on the show with Dr Christopher Lloyd (Lecturer in English Literature, University of Hertfordshire) (starts 37 mins 45 secs)

They are trying to grab users’ attentions,’ said Dr Mark Griffiths of the International Gaming Research Unit, ‘to make social media users create a routine and habitually check their screens.’ Photograph: amenic181/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Social media platforms are using the same techniques as gambling firms to create psychological dependencies and ingrain their products in the lives of their users, experts warn.